The darkest Shadow
by w nymph
Summary: Multichapter, AU - And for a second a part of Kiryu despaired and wished things could have gone different. He couldn't let go of his bonds, not when there was still one Last Duel to be fought. Formerly "The robbed Light"
1. Part 1: Yusei

**Author's Note:** This insane piece of fanfiction has been posted once before, exactly a year ago, under the name "The robbed Light". It was inspired by all the great work done on LJ, both fanfiction and RP. So, I'd like to give a huge thanks to everybody, who is on there, cause otherwise I'd have abandoned this. In fact I almost did abandon it, however the way the series kept throwing material for it at me, as well as a very nice review that Tenka made to the original version, both praising it and pointing out its flaws.

So, thank you so, so much Tenka, your review was very much part of what made me go back to writing this story. ^^

Anyway, I started rewriting this story around last September and by now I've almost finished it. There is still a chapter that needs to be written out, but I intent to update once a week and hope that I'll have that one chapter finished once its turn is up.

Please enjoy.

**Warnings:**

1. Do I still need to warn for spoilers?

2. Uhm, this is a Dark!Fic. With a lot of characterdeath… sorts of anyway. Just wanted to note that before the actual beginning. ^^;

3. Little hints of Kiryu/Yusei, Jack/Carly and Kiryu/Crow but probably not enough to actually call it PAIRINGS. |D

**Summary:** And for a second a part of Kiryu despaired and wished things could have gone different. He couldn't let go of his bonds, not when there was still one Last Duel to be fought.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. I do not own the italic text in the beginning either, it is a quote from the Start Wars: Revenge of the Sith-novel by Matthew Stover.

**--- The darkest Shadow ---**

**--- Part 01: Yusei ---**

_The dark is generous._

_Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from us the truths of others._

_The dark protects us from what we dare not know._

_Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night's embrace, the beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in day's harsh light. But the greatest of its comforts is the illusion that the dark is temporary: that every night brings a new day. Because it is day that is temporary._

_Day is the Illusion._

_Its third gift is the light itself: as days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stars are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light, and brings it forth from the center of its own self._

_With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins._

It had taken long enough, and as much as Yusei disliked this way of dueling, he wasn't about to give up and let Kiryu have his way. Finally he had managed to inflict damage in return, even reduced Kiryu's lifepoints to below a thousand. Yusei had hoped to end the duel with Synchro Destructor but he had realised that it is far to optimistic to call for victory the moment he activated the trap.

He knew that, although it seemed that he had finally taken the lead in this duel, especially with Stardust and Scrap-Metal Scarecrow on his field, Kiryu still held far to much cards in his hand (figuratively and literally speaking) to be counted out of the game just yet. Not to mention that the meaning of the one that he had added through the effect of One-Hundred-Eyes Dragon was still unknown, which made it even more dangerous. However he held Speed Spell – Final Attack in his hand, which made him fairly confident to be able to end this insanity the instant his next turn came by.

(And perhaps, so Yusei hoped, just perhaps, like that street duelist Dick Pitt, Kiryu would turn back into the person that he had been before, into the friend he would have done anything for…)

But somehow his gut feeling told him that he wouldn't have a next turn, a feeling that worsened as Kiryu interrupted him to declare the special summoning of his two ghost token and thanked him for adding what he called a Dark Signer's mightiest card to his hand.

Disbelieving he watched as Kiryu laughed and sacrificed his tokens along with the souls of the Satellites, that he and his allies had captured, remorselessly summoning forth a monster unlike any that Yusei had seen before.

It was gigantic and had an aura of malice, and as he watched it rise from the earth Yusei felt true fear gripping him, for the first time in so long. It was even worse than three years ago, when they had watched their world fall apart around them. The fear in him sneaked into his heart and made his mind go almost blank as he saw how the hand of the giant reached for him and heard Kiryu call out for his death.

He tried to stop it, cried out for both Stardust and Scrap-Metal Scarecrow but neither could help, both failed to stop the ever-approaching giant. From a far he heard Kiryu scold him, amused at him for even thinking that this monster – this god – could be stopped by the mere cards of a Signer and from even farther away he heard Jack and Crow call his name in concern.

All he could do was watching the giant's hand coming near, slowly yet unbelievingly fast, destroying the ground beneath it. He closed his eyes as the fear in his heart and mind took over, anticipating the strike, and the instant before he took the hit fear turned into hate.

Hate for what Kiryu has become. And even greater hate for Godwin, who sent him back to Satellite as a sacrificial lamb, knowing that Yusei wouldn't stand a chance against the Dark Signers just yet, especially only by himself. Hate for the Crimson Dragon, who was part of him, who had forced this fate upon him.

But between all the hate that felt so foreign yet so right, there was fierce defiance; the will to survive, to live burning and raging and filling his entire being. Because, even if it was only to spite all the mentioned above (and it wasn't), he did not want to die. Not on like this.

Then the hand reached him and his world disappeared in unmatchable pain and darkness as purplish flames consumed him…

----

His world was pain, endless pain and he wondered if this was what Kiryu had endured, what Kiryu had called hell. But pain was just the tip of the feelings plaguing him. Mostly he felt fear, fear of Kiryu, whom he had been chanceless against, fear for Crow and Jack, who Kiryu would be after next. And even more intense than pain and fear he felt anger and hate and despair. And shouldn't have ended like this.

Sometimes he started to wish that he would just die and a small piece of him wondered if he wasn't dead already. Yet he tried to keep clinging to the light, forcing himself to remember Jack and Crow and Rally-tachi and all the fun-times they had had together. But after some time even the memory of the better times wasn't enough anymore to keep darkness and pain at bay and soon he stopped remembering, stopped caring and let the darkness latch onto him. Let it swallow him a whole.

And then he woke up in a dark and unfamiliar place, he was leaning against a cold wall, his right burning painfully, the pain digging into his arm as if to engrave itself onto him, as if to brand him for all its worth.

He gasped, sucking in air, yet it felt like his lungs weren't working… and when he opened his eyes he saw the birthmark glowing in his lap; not in the red that he had become accustomed to, but in blackish purple, like the fake mark on Dick Pitt, like the mark of… Kiryu.

Panic spread through him; what, just what was going on here?

He turned his head and saw his own reflection in the old, dust covered mirror that hung on the wall (the one that he shouldn't have seen by any means in this darkness but did anyway) he wasn't really surprised to see his cobalt blue pupils contrasting with the now black of his eyes.

Shacking slightly, he breathed in deep, drawing air that he actually didn't need anymore, trying to figure out what the hell had happened, how the hell he was going to deal with…

…this power. Because that was, what was now flowing through his veins, throbbing, pulsing, whispering, promising the world and more. Overwhelming him so much; almost making him wonder why he should be afraid of this – it felt so terribly foreign and terribly right at the same time.

"Finally awake, are we?"

His head shot up, immediately meeting Kiryu's amused amber eyes, cutting through the dark like glowing gems. Kiryu, who was sitting on a crate, just a few meters away from him, so closer, far closer than he had been in so long. Kiryu, who's eyes oddly enough didn't hold the look of intense hatred and the promise of pain – in fact if Yusei hadn't known better he would have thought that everything was back the way it had been before… before Signers, before the city, before that night three years ago.

Kiryu, who crooked his head, snickering: "Welcome to hell, Yusei."

And despite still shaking, still being torn between fear and dark pleasure, some part of Yusei couldn't help but point out that if this was hell, then, just perhaps, hell wasn't such a bad place to stay at.

_--- TBC… ---_

Please review.


	2. Part 2: Kiryu

**Author's Note**: Oh hi guys, first update and I'm already late, huh? |D

I really look forward to the reactions of this chapter. For one because it is the first actual _new_ chapter to this story, for another because back when I started planning "The robbed Light" I had a very specific idea that I wanted to see realised. One that later on became the centre of another verse I own to a part, but that is a very different story. I can't help but wonder if anyone of you saw it coming, especially since the new summary of this story kind of foreshadows it.

By the way, any thoughts on the quote I'm using? It's actually the part of the interlude of the Start Wars: Revenge of the Sith-novel, and I am using almost the whole thing, split throught the chapters since it's just so utterly perfect. I think you'll see what I mean by the time that we reach the end.

Enjoy. ^.^

**Warnings:** AU, Dark!fic, sorta Characterdeath all around |D (and what would you call it when a dead guys hit on each other anyway?)

**Summary:** And for a second a part of Kiryu despaired and wished things could have gone different. He couldn't let go of his bonds, not when there was still one Last Duel to be fought.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. I do not own the italic text in the beginning either, it is a quote from the Start Wars: Revenge of the Sith-novel by Matthew Stover.

**--- The darkest Shadow ---**

**--- Part 02: Kiryu ---**

_The dark is generous, and it is patient._

_It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt._

Like Rudger had foreseen, it certainly was an exceptional duel they were playing; Kiryu acknowledged so much. Yusei, albeit handicapped by the fact that he had no idea of Kiryu's new and improved deck (as oppose to Kiryu, who knew Yusei deck and strategy just as well as his own), kept fighting defiantly, and certainly without the intention to die anytime soon.

But that was more than alright with Kiryu, he wasn't about to end the battle this quickly; not after all the time he had waited. Yusei was supposed to suffer, to scream in pain, in fear of what was yet to come.

_(And yet, some part of him, the part that had ceased to be angry, ached. Because even though this duel was without a doubt exceptional, it wasn't enough to satisfy all of him, it whispered. This was NOT Team Satisfactions Last Duel, it whispered, but Kiryu crushed those whispers the moment they crossed his mind.)_

He was caught between annoyance and amusement as he watched his enemy avoid one close call after the other and he couldn't help enjoying the pain he was dealt when Yusei finally called for the counterattack. Not Kiryu hadn't been anticipating this; Yusei had always been known for his come-from-behind victories. He had learned to watch out for this kind of play in their time as Team Satisfaction.

But with this habit of his, to keep planning and finish his opponent off in one shot when their guard was down the most, Yusei effectively killed himself. Sending Ccapac Apu to his hand and providing him the token he needed for the release, was his undoing.

Kiryu couldn't help but laugh. Laugh at the irony. Laugh at Yusei, who now instead of gaining victory, stood before a god, a creature that was several millennia old and had spent most of that time sealed beneath the earth waiting for someone like Kiryu to be born and die so that the two of them could become one.

How long had he waited for this moment, for the moment in that he made his former friend, former brother, suffer the same as he had and even more. Wild laugher escaped him once again as he watched how Yusei tried desperately to defend himself, believing at first in the dragon he called his own, the proof that he was an enemy to the dark gods, then in the old, trusty scarecrow trap. He enjoyed the blank look of terror that settled on Yuseis face as both failed him.

He had waited for years, had waited patiently hidden in the darkness for his revenge to resolve and to bring his fated opponents soul before the gods of the underworld. And now as he watched coming to reality, by the hand of the god he controlled, he couldn't help but laugh in joy and delight.

_(And despair. For how could he play their Last Duel, if the four of them weren't united? How could he ever be truly satisfied by the death of one of his own?)_

He laughed as the darkness robbed the light of one of its defenders, swallowing him, leaving nothing behind. He enjoyed the sound of Yusei and Jack and Crow screaming, one in pain, the other two in fear, even though once it would have send him into fear and rage to hear them, his team, being in any state below content.

But this part of him was as good as gone, consumed by the darkness, leaving only this, rage and the thirst for revenge. And so he watched as the man that he had once called his younger brother was crushed by the rage of god, by his own rage, feeling regret, despair and dark satisfaction, that perhaps wasn't entirely his own, and found that the darkest part within him thought it beautiful.

----

If anyone were to ask Kiryu, just what exactly had happened after the duel, he wouldn't have been able to answer. Not because he didn't remember, he did. He remembered watching as Yusei screamed and was crushed. He had witnessed with uttermost delight, how his former team-mate disappeared and relished in the disbelieving, anguish cries of Crow and Jack and whatever friends Yusei had made to replace him.

And for a second a part of him (one that that barely surfaced nowadays, the one that would always stay Team Satisfaction Leader) despaired and wished things could have gone different. Whished that his team had understood back then, has fought on his side instead of choosing to undermine him, to betray him. Because this wasn't true satisfaction. This wasn't freedom.

Perhaps those better thoughts had been the cause of the following events; or perhaps it had been his god's way of rewarding him (and that was quite possible, or so Demak told him later at least). It could have been the regular outcome of a destined battle, won by a Dark Signer. Or it could have been something entirely else – Kiryu would never know.

He only knew that one moment he had been laughing, mirroring his gods pleasure (and despairing within at the same time), and then been swallowed by blackish purple flames, whisked away back to the Dark Signer lair. And had been surprised to find Yuseis body to his feet, eyes opened wide and dead, but the body itself seemingly unharmed and (what shocked Kiryu the most) his birthmark, the tail of the hated Crimson Dragon, glowing in angry red for the most part except for the centre. The centre of the birthmark had shone in the same purplish black as his own and almost imperceptibly it had seemed to gain power; slowly taking over the crimson.

Before he had had the chance to question himself just what was going on, Rudger had appeared, smiling amused when he saw what price Kiryu had brought home and in what condition it was. Kiryu had almost jumped on him, furiously demanding an explanation about why Yusei was here, why was he breathing when he should be dead and buried?

_(And secretly wondered why was a part of him so relieved by this development?)_

Rudger hadn't answered, but then again their self-appointed leader rarely answered straight – if he answered at all – unless he felt like it of course. Instead he had ordered Kiryu and Demak to bring the (former?) Signer in and secure him until the "transition" as he had called it, was complete. They had complied, Kiryu grudgingly and Demak readily (but unlike Kiryu, Demak always followed Rudgers lead without question, almost worshipping the ground their leader walked on).

A few days had passed since then. Days that Kiryu had spent separate from the rest of the Dark Signer, waiting for Yusei to awake. He had done a lot of thinking in that time. Why was Yusei transforming? Had he really been this desperate to stay alive? Had it been actually HIM with his foolish wish to regain his former bonds? Or had it been a mixture of both?

Regardless of that and everything else, he kept his watch. He even ignored the tingling sensation of his mark, telling him that somewhere else kin had awakened, had started stretching her wings, and that close to her another of their kin had engaged the fight with their enemy.

Kiryu wasn't worried; he would meet them in time. Demak had already left to pick them up and Yusei, who became kin more and more with every passing hour, was more important.

He spent most of his time wondering why, why would the darkness allow Yusei to become one of it's own. Or perhaps more importantly, why would Yusei wish to be one of the darkness' children?

Certainly not for revenge like himself, Kiryu believed; Yusei was far too forgiving, far too selfless for that. Back, three years ago, when it had been the four of them against the world, Team Satisfaction against anyone brave enough to challenge their power, he had believed forgiveness to be a defining part of Yusei's character. That and loyalty to everyone he thought of as comrade.

Except that Yusei had proven that to be false. Had shown his true colours by selling him to _'them'_, showing that he would betray his own to safe is skin (and as he wallowed in those memories, deep inside Kiryu hated himself for forgiving Yusei despite all of this).

But perhaps, he thought, he had found his reason now. Yusei would go out of his way to safe himself, even become a traitor if his comrades, which accepting the darkness effectively made him. Again.

And perhaps it was really connected with his further ambition. Not the one to kill Yusei; he certainly had done so already – Yusei had died after all; he had just failed to cease existing like Kiryu had originally expected him to. His real ambition, his yet unfulfilled desire to play Team Satisfactions Last Duel.

Ultimately that had been the motivation behind that one wish that he had made in his moment of weakness. _(Hadn't it)_

Yes, he thought; grinning in excitement, their reunion, days ago had just been the beginning. Had surely been a sign of underworldly guidance, the darkness' acknowledgment, telling him reunite all four of them under its mantle. Now that half of them had embraced it, it would be only a question of time (and perhaps a bit of prodding) until the remaining two did too. Because for all their individual quirks, if there was one trait all four of them shared, then it was stubbornness and the will to survive, no matter what.

Kiryu smiled content, pulling out the second deck that was hidden in his robes – Yusei's – and smirked at the top card, which wasn't white as it had been, but had turned into the darkest shade of black; signaling the transformation that was taking place.

And when he looked down on Yuseis twitching form, watching him waking up, smiling as he saw how confusion clouded his (former?) comrades eyes.

"Finally awake, are we?", he called out, eyes gleaming amused as he saw Yusei realizing his surrounding, his rebirth as Dark Signer, his breath hitching in slight panic before he looked up, nervous blue meeting his amused amber eyes and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Welcome to hell, Yusei."

And after a moment of endless seeming silence Yusei spoke up, his voice slightly hoarse, asking: "Wha-what happened… Why…"

Kiryu smiled, suppressing the all instincts to laugh again – he didn't want to scare Yusei (too much), not now. "Why are you Dark Signer? Who knows~ the Darkness moves in strange ways, you know…"

Yusie just shook his head furiously, drawing breaths that he didn't need, would never need again. "This isn't right, I… I shouldn't be here."

"And yet you are…" Kiryu smiled, watching, always watching how Yusei shook again in denial – and yet he saw, no matter how hard Yusei tried to hide that little fact: Part if him had already accepted the darkness, enjoyed it even.

He had been right before. Yusei and Jack and Crow alike, all of them posed the sane dark potential as he had and all needed to call it forward at this point would be a little nudge into the right direction, to get them to accept it, this _(and then they would be together, all four united again)_.

He jumped down from the crate he had sat on, his undead heart giving a slight jump in excitement, and landed right before where Yusei had curled himself up, fighting himself, trying to keep reign on his darkest desires.

He crouched down, leaning forward, invading his private sphere; he had a feeling he knew what Yusei was thinking, how he argued with himself; he himself hadn't felt quite as troubled to accept the darkness, not like he kenw Yusei had to - he had been a being of light far too long not too.

"Don't fight this." He advised, keeping his voice as low, as gentle, as soothing as possible. Yusei looked up to him, immediately covering conflict with denial and defiance, as if to say that he had no idea what Kiryu was talking about.

"You feel it." Kiryu continued unbothered by Yuseis reaction, "You feel the darkness snaking through you, pulsing with rage, with hate, with pain, telling you to seek vengeance against all those who have wronged you."

"You feel it right here." he said while placing his hand flat on the younger boys chest, right where his heart wasn't beating anymore.

"I…" Confusion was evident on in Yuseis expression, he was probably wondering what Kiryu was up to, why was he calling him so directly on his feelings, why did he care, all that was evident in his all too open sapphire gaze. "I…"

Then he shook his head again, conflict marking his face, fighting himself, fighting Kiryu's words of dark truth.

"Why are you doing this?" he hissed, anger and hate and fear (and far beneath that a hint of acceptance) swirling in his voice. "You hate me. And after what happened _that_ night, I don't blame you for it."

Kiryu grimaced, reminded of his own conflicted feelings in that matter _(because as much as he would have liked to, as much as he tried to, even with the darkness taking over his heart and mind… hating Yusei, being angry with him was something he had stopped long ago)._ "You really know how to spoil a moment with unpleasant business, don't you?"

He averted his eyes in silence, now conflicted himself; should he tell Yusei, what would telling him change _(except that then he would have to accept it himself. The fact that in reality, he had never hated Yusei at all…)_. Hesitatingly he started:

"I wanted to hate you. God, you have no idea how much I wanted to hate you." He chuckled helplessly, before turning his gaze back to Yusei. "So much that I could actually fool myself into thinking that I did. But…"

He smiled slightly, and for the first time in year there was no anger, no hate on his mind. Only regret. Only a brother's love. "But seems that I just can't stay mad at you for long. Not on any of you."

He saw Yusei calmly studying him, his struggle with his own darkness forgotten for a moment perhaps, frowning, as if about to make a revelation on his own.

"That night…" he began slowly. "Back that night, is hadn't been supposed to be you."

That stunned Kiryu into silence. His eyes widened as he leaned forward, wanting to hear what Yusei was trying to say. What was Yusei meaning with it hadn't been supposed to be him. Yusei had betrayed him after all. _(Hadn't he?)_

"Everything should have gone different…", the younger boy continued, eyes trained on the ground; he didn't seem to dare to look at Kiryu right now. "Jack and Crow should have gotten you out. And the one arrested…"

Now he looked up again, regret and pain and sadness all evident in his cobalt eyes. "The one arrested should have been _me_."

Kiryu only looked at him, stunned, no, shocked. This had to be a lie. Yusei, Jack, Crow - all of them had betrayed him back then. But what would Yusei get of lying to him now? Why would this be a lie, when it would be so utterly like Yusei to give up on himself all to keep a comrade safe…

"Idiot…", he chuckled weakly, surprised and glad about the dark when he felt the first tear running down his face. "You are such an idiot…"

And suddenly he was glad about the way fate had worked out. There were far worse fates than becoming Dark Signer. And Kiryu didn't even _want_ to imagine how things would have changed, had Yusei succeeded in selling himself out. But it was a sign too… His team hadn't betrayed him. The bonds he had thought lost, all of them still existed. Team Satisfaction had always been meant to be.

And after a few moments of silence between them, he spoke up again. "We'll need to get Jack and Crow."

He looked at Yusei, who sat there, silent, questioning, not understanding where the sudden change of subject had come from.

"We need to get Jack and Crow." Kiryu repeated. "Team Satisfaction has four members after all."

Yusei frowned and shook his head, perhaps he did realise what Kiryu was on about, what he was planning, and it was clear, he had misgivings: "Team Satisfaciton doesn't exist anymore. It's part of the past, Kiryu."

"Then this will be our revival." Kiryu replied grinning (and part of him hurting that Yusei didn't share his excitement). "The rebirth of Team Satisfaction."

"You can't be serious!" Yusei snapped angrily. "What you plan is insane. You are aware it means to…"

"Kill Jack and Crow?" Kiryu crooked his head, smirking as he dared to complete that sentence for Yusei. "Of course, I know."

"You can't be serious…" Yusei shook his head again, his face mirroring the anger, the distress, the despair that only this thought could cause. "What makes you so sure this would work? What if they don't _come back_? How do you know that won't happen?"

He studied the younger's shaking form, sensing that this was important for him to impress on Yusei, because he _needed_ Yusei, just like he needed the other two. Because once they had been comrades. Once they had been family. And if Kiryu had any say in it, then they would be once again.

"I know, Yusei." He started, calmly, carefully. "They'll come back for one simple reason. They are just. like. us. All four of us are the same. Bastards, who claw their way to top without giving up. Not even to death. And only those with the will to live become like us. Only those, who cling to live desperately, willing to endure whatever pain may come for it for whatever reasons they have, only those have earned to be like us."

They would come back, would become Dark Signer because they _had_ to. Because Kiryu too, wouldn't be able to bear otherwise. But there was no way that he would tell Yusei that. Instead he asked that one question that was of real importance right now. Because this was the only bait he had to keep Yusie with him. "You miss them too, don't you? The time when it was just us four. Just Team Satisfaction."

Yusei just sat there not looking at him, shaking, whispering: "It isn't right… We'll just end up hating each other."

But when Kiryu caught a glimpse of his eyes he saw: he had already accepted the darkness in his heart. Most of the work was already done. All that remained was convincing him that this was _meant_ to be. That it was fate itself that bound them together.

He leaned forward again, closing the space between them, bringing their foreheads together anf forcing Yusei to look him straight into the eyes.

"Don't you see?" he asked softly, his voice echoing through the room, weaving itself around them like dark silk threads. "It doesn't matter! Hate, Love… they all come from the same bonds, bonds that tie us together just as tight as they did then. Shouldn't somebody like you, as someone who values those bonds, know that the best?

Yusei looked right back at him, uncertainty and doubt and fear swirling in his eyes. But Kiryu knew he was close. He couldn't let up now. He reached forward, pulling Yusei to him, smiling when the other didn't resist and let himself fall into the embrace.

"Don't worry, Yusei." He whispered. "Leave everything to me. Just go to the city and get Jack, duel him if you must. Everything is going to be just like it was always supposed to be. Everything will be just fine."

Kiryu threaded his hand through Yusei's coarse black hair, pretending not to notice how Yusei's eyes and birthmark glowed up purplish for a moment _(because if there was something he was good at then it was ignoring things that he just didn't want to see…)_, then the younger boy nodded, eyes gleaming with determination. "Ah. Everything will be just fine…"

_--- TBC… ---_

Please, review.


	3. Part 3: Crow

**Author's Note**: Hi, hi everyone and welcome to chapter three of this insane mess. You know, when I wrote this chapter I kind of started to recategorize this fic from Dark!fic to strangely twisted fluff. WTF self? XD

Anyway, next weeks update might be a bit late, since that is the one chapter that I'm still working on. However I've done a lot for it, so I think there is a good chance that I'm going to make it after all. ^^

Enjoy.

**Warnings:** AU, Dark!fic, some swearing, sorta Characterdeath all around |D (and what would you call it when a dead guys hit on each other anyway?)

**Summary:** And for a second a part of Kiryu despaired and wished things could have gone different. He couldn't let go of his bonds, not when there was still one Last Duel to be fought.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. I do not own the italic text in the beginning either, it is a quote from the Start Wars: Revenge of the Sith-novel by Matthew Stover.

**--- The darkest Shadow ---**

**--- Part 03: Crow ---**

_The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout._

_The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light._

Crow swore violently, panting, running, turning just for a second to see that dark, sinister fog swamp over the land behind him, claiming the ground beneath it, closing onto him with every second. And somewhere in the back of his mind he admitted, hadn't that establishment-clown warned him merely seconds before, this strange fog would have already swallowed him as well.

Finally – finally! - he reached Black Bird; the bike was his best bet for survival. He jumped into the seat, pushing the dueldisk back into place with far more force than he usually would have done, racing down the street just seconds later, putting a little bit more space between himself and that dark mist.

He kept throwing glances backwards, seeing the fog slowly, steadily covering the land, surrounding everything in its clutches with deep darkness. From afar, he started to hear the people scream in panic and fear, creating a morbid chorus as they were turned into dust. Leaning further forwards he pushed the throttle, anything to make to escape this goddamn mist, anything – he'd be damned, if he died in this place just like this!

Yet with every second the fog caught up more and more to him, he was well aware of that, was feeling panic and despair rising. And then he caught sight of the refrigerator, perhaps the only chance for him to escape the fog, desperate but still a chance. He jumped onto the break, sliding Black Bird into full stop, stumbling off the bike, towards the refrigerator, but then tripped over his own two feet in his panic, hitting the ground hard.

He tried to scramble back to his feet, tried to reach safety, but just as he touched the refrigerators frame, the dark mist swamped over him, warping itself around him and he could feel its pull on his very soul.

He collapsed to the ground, all strength leaving his limbs, his body, as he tried to draw in air, tried to fight off the darkness's hold. But instead of breathing, he chocked, a gargled cry escaping him as he still fought the dark mist for air.

He felt he felt himself suffocating, felt the black fog chocking him, it felt like long, slim and cold fingers pressing against his throat. He tried to cling to what life was still in his body, tried to breath yet couldn't and somewhere in the back of his mind he cursed, as creative and foul as he was still able to. Not that it helped him any.

And as he felt his body shut down; so slow that he almost thought it was torturing him on purpose; he realised badly that this wasn't the way he wanted to die (if he had to die, at least he wanted to go down fighting!). Clinging to his life, he starred ahead, his eyes dark and clouded and almost dead.

His sight became blurred and with every second passing more black spots danced before his eyes. And when his vision went black and his body cramped a last time in it's need for oxygen, only one thought remained.

_"I don't want to die…, I don't wanna die…, Idontwannadiedon'twannadiedon'twannadie…"_

Because he, the awesome Crow-the-Bullet-sama, was not supposed die withering in the garbage while being suffocated by some stupid black smoke. He refused to.

----

He was cold.

Cold and lonely and numb and he still felt as if something was warping around him, was pulling at his very core. This wasn't how he had imagined his trip into the B.A.D. to go. Granted, of course he hadn't put much thought into it as a whole, hadn't thought much beyond challenging the figures that called themselves Dark Signer and perhaps punching some sense into Kiryu and making him talk about just what the hell had happened to Yusei (because Crow refused to give up, refused to declare Yusei dead – her wouldn't – couldn't – believe that, not until he had seen a body).

He hadn't questioned his ability to beat them - his skills as duelist had always been equal to that of Yusei, Jack or Kiryu. So even though he didn't have some glowing mark edged into his forearm, did that really matter?

But considering how he'd just been caught by this goddamned fog, it seemed to matter quite a bit after all. And he couldn't curse – couldn't hate - that fact fate had presented enough (because back when it had been just the four of them, just him and Yusei and Jack and Kiryu, back when the had been Team Satisfaction, they had been equal. Equal in skill, equal in importance and that he was supposed to be the outsider now hurt way more than Crow cared to admit).

He really hated it, this whole supposed war that he didn't understand (but that threatened his kids, his family regardless), Yusei's sudden disappearance after his loss, Jack's uncaring ways that had made him leave the moment after seeing Yusei fall instead of staying and _fight_ just like he should have, Kiryu's insane ways, that had ruined everything back then and had done so now too…

Crow wouldn't remember the most of what had happened. He would only vaguely recall what the slick, dark voice in his head had whispered and promised or the way it had warped around his soul, ice cold and tight, keeping him from thinking, from moving. All he know was that all of sudden he was back on the pavement, screaming so loud that his ears were ringing. The world around him was spinning and he clung to the ground as he tried to make sense of everything, breathing deeply out of reflex and suddenly chocking due the same.

He traced his throat with his fingers, panic rising so very quick – the memory of just a few moments before, of the fog, still so terribly close to the surface – and when he touched it he shivered; his fingers felt unnaturally cold against it for some reason. Steadily he calmed down, his breath returning to normal, but something felt wrong and he couldn't quite put a finger on it, not until he tried to feel for his pulse.

Because only then he noticed that his heart wasn't beating anymore.

He scrambled onto his knees, shaking his head, not sure what was going on, not sure with he _wanted to know_ and terribly crept when all of sudden he seemed to hear a quiet, amused whisper in the back of his mind, telling him that everything was just fine as it was.

And when he turned his head to see his reflection in one of the shop windows, he froze as he saw the once bright yellow marker now coloured bloody red and his eyes so dark and lifeless, as if they weren't his but the eyes of death itself _(and he shivered as the whisper in the back of his head hummed and soaked itself in his fear and hate and despair, found it delightful and made no secret out of that)_.

Still shaky he climbed on his feet, struggling within over what had happened to him in the last… hours? Days? Minutes? Crow had no idea. But he knew, felt deep within that a part of him known exactly what had happened, already accepted it and almost seemed to enjoy it for some reason, but the rest of him was just frozen in shock and fear. _(This just couldn't be… he couldn't be… he couldn't have… and yet he was)_.

Slowly he started to regain his wit, calmly thinking, trying to figure out what to do _next_. Because there was no denying anymore… He was Dark Signer and if Yusei as right then soon enough he would have to fight one of those Signers. He had become the very thing that endangered his kids and everyone else. The very thing he had wanted to fight _against_. The best he could do was to seek out Jack and perhaps to try to lose that duel on…

Before he could even finish the thought, the presence in his head began to shriek, a terrible high-pitched noise only he could hear. He fell to his knees, his world sent spinning again – far worse than the last time and suddenly there was a hand on his shoulders, holding him stable, and he sensed an almost soothing presence, as dark as his own, that made his skin tingle slightly in familiarity.

And then he looked up and saw Kiryu smirking down at him, relaxed and easy and if not for his appearance, Crow could have sworn he was back in their hide out three years ago. Immediately he felt hate and anger rising up at him, how dare he to just stand there, to look as if nothing had happened between them, as if… how dare he! A moment later he was already darting forward, ignoring all pain and his pounding head, putting all strength into tackling Kiryu to the ground and keeping him pinned there, pulling back his fist to punch him into the face over and over again, his mind clouded by anger and hate and confusion.

When he awoke from his fit of blind rage, he was sitting on the older mans chest, panting heavily. He closed his eyes as his anger died down a bit and when he opened them again to see Kiryu stare up at him, amused and almost unaffected by the beating he had taken, tilting his head slightly as if to say 'Are you finished?', he almost pulled back to punch him again _(again and again until that arrogant smirk disappeared from his face, the smirk that had both forged and shattered (_him_) them)_. However before he could even fully consider that thought, Kiryu's fingers had already closed around his wrists, firmly keeping his hands in place.

Crow starred down at him, angry and hating him and somehow not really wanting to feel either. He tugged on his hands, readying himself to struggle with Kiryu over control, but then his eyes met that of the other's _(the gaze thoughtful and almost soft and so very unlike any expression he had seen on Kiryu's face since after they had taken over Zone M)_ and he stopped, waiting for Kiryu to speak up.

"It's not going to change anything." Kiryu said, almost soothingly. "As much as I might deserve your anger, this is not going to change. Never again. There is no going back for those, who have become one with the dark. You'll be better off savouring your anger for those who deserves it even more."

Yet if his words were meant to be calming, they had the very opposite effect on Crow. He kept glaring angrily, twisting his arms to free himself from Kiryu's grip, hissing: "And just who do you think you are to decide that. Fuck off, Kiryu."

To his surprise Kiryu indeed let go and a moment later he had scrambled off the other, rubbing his wrists as he crouched on the ground like a cornered animal, ready to strike out at anything that moved. Kiryu, ignoring any signs of possible danger, just pulled himself up into sitting position.

"Don't be like that, Crow." He said, shaking his head slightly as if amused and a bit disappointed. "Aren't we nakama?"

Crow just snort at that, tensing, already considering to attack his ex-leader again. "That's rich coming from you."

Kiryu frowned back at him, all amusement lost as he narrowed his eyes. "All I've done was always for the best of the team, Crow. Always."

Crow just shook his head; Kiryu really hadn't changed from back then, not one bit. He still disguised his selfish desires as selfless, saying that he was acting for them and not for himself. Still trying to force something together that didn't exist anymore (that couldn't exist anymore as long as Yusei was gone and that hatred between them) for his own sake.

Kiryu had never realised that all they had ever wanted was for him to be happy and _with them_. He had never realised that distancing themselves from him and the team had hurt all three of them, but that they had done it regardless so that he could understand that he was in the wrong. So that they could return in that precise moment to show him that despite all the mistakes, they would never stop seeing him as their leader. Only that he hadn't stopped. And even now, years later they all had wondered privately what they could have done differently…

"You just don't get it." He muttered, shaking his head angrily. Talking Kiryu down had always been close to impossible. "And after what you've done to Yusei it's stopped mattering anyway."

"Oh…?" Kiryu crooked his head, trying to look as if he didn't quite know what Crow was talking about, but there was this amused glint in his eyes, as if he knew something Crow didn't. As if he had a trump card that he just _waited_ to reveal. And Crow stared back, shacking while keeping himself from jumping at Kiryu and whipping that expression off his face.

Kiryu was unfazed by all of that. "Then tell me, what have done to Yusei?"

Crow leaned forward, his face twisted in furry, hissing: "Stop playing dumb. You _killed_ him."

He regretted his words the moment they left his mouth. Hadn't he sworn not to give up until he had seen his body? Hadn't he been determined to ignore this feeling of certainty that Yusei was no longer with them, that there was no hope. He bit his lip, looking decidedly away from Kiryu, trying to push back that amused hiss in his head, that foreign voice that told him as well – Yusei was gone. Just as dead as Crow was himself, it whispered, sounding very amused because of that.

He didn't notice how Kiryu got up until he found himself facing a slightly madly gleaming gaze, but beneath that madness he could recognise something familiar – the utter confidence and pride of the man that had once been Team Satisfaction's leader.

Kiryu just leaned forward, his voice low: "You are right, Crow. I _did_ kill Yusei."

His eyes widened, but before the fury within him had yet another chance to rise, to make him attack Kiryu, the older man had his hands already on his shoulders, keeping him in pace with iron grip. Though that stopped being necessary the moment Crow had processed his next sentence. "But that doesn't mean that he's gone~"

Crow glared at him in disbelieve, almost about to attack again and he would have, if not for that voice inside him whispering that this was the truth. He shook his head, he didn't even want to start to consider what the voice was and why it knew this, why it tried to nudge him even deeper into his fears and hate. He didn't want to consider, why Yusei could be still around when Kiryu had confirmed him dead not even a minute before (because the only reason he could come up with seemed impossible; Yusei was a _Signer_ for goodness sake).

Then he felt Kiryu tap against his forehead, an almost teasing gesture to snap him out of his thoughts.

"You are fighting this, Crow." He whispered, sounding almost concerned. "You are fighting this fate and your instincts and you shouldn't. You came back for a reason, you know. You wouldn't have been retrieved if you hadn't chosen this fate for yourself."

Crow watched him silently. Kiryu was right of course, but damn him if he ever admitted that. Kiryu kept his gaze, fully aware of his attention. "Let me show you. The dark isn't something that should be feared, especially not by individuals like us."

He turned those words over and over in his head, trying to push away the darkness tainted parts within him and the voice, trying to cling to other facts (like that Yuei was indeed somewhere out there and just might need his help. Like that he had no clue what had happened to his kids, but that he had to find out, to protect them from that darkness - even if he himself had become part of it now).

"I want to see Yusei." He snarled in the end, glaring at Kiryu, making _very_ clear that he would come for that and only that. That he had no desire to see whatever Kiryu had to offer.

Kiryu nodded, though there was still this knowing glint in his eyes that made Crow wary. "Of course."

Then the older man got up, holding out his hand for Crow to take. "Are you coming then?"

Crow took another moment to stare and consider that outstretched hand. Something was wrong and after everything that had happened he knew that _nothing_ good could come out of following Kiryu. Yet there were the parts if him that were tainted by darkness, and a tiny part of him simply remembered and longed for the old days and then there was the voice telling him to take that hand and follow, that _this was right_.

And after shaking his head, clearing his thoughts for a last time, he leaned forward to grab that hand and let Kiryu help him to get up.

Yes, he would check up on Yusei and then find a way to his kids. And even if everything failed, he'd surely be able to think of something. He wasn't Crow the Bullet for nothing.

_--- TBC ---_

Please, review.


	4. Part 4: Jack

**Author's Note:** Do you know the feeling when you read over something your wrote after not touching it in forever and think 'it was _me_ who wrote this? Well, I had it quite often when I worked on this part of the story. I had this feeling a lot with this chapter. I picked it up and let it fall again many, many times over the last year and ironically enough I just finished it on the train from Villach to Vienna (ironic, because the very first draft of this fic was written on the train from Vienna to Villach in the Christmas Holidays two years ago).

In the end I'm kind of proud of this particular piece - I don't know how often I asked myself if there is something as too much mindfuck. Honestly, I pity Jack a little in this one. It was the hardest and the longest to write, but on the bright side, the last chapter and the epilogue were finished half a year ago and I'll get them up within the next few days, promise. ;)

I really, really hope you enjoy reading this at least as much as I enjoyed writing. :D

**Warnings:** AU, Dark!fic, sorta Characterdeath all around |D, POSSIBLY THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF MINDFUCK I'VE EVER WRITTEN WITHIN A CHAPTER (and what do you call when the dead guys hit on each other anyway?)

**Summary:** And for a second a part of Kiryu despaired and wished things could have gone different. He couldn't let go of his bonds, not when there was still one Last Duel to be fought.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Italic text in the beginning isn't mine either, it still belongs to Matthew Stover and I'm only borrowing.

**- The darkest Shadow -**

**- Part 04: Jack -**

_The dark's patience is infinite._

_Eventually, even stars burn out._

"Atlas-sama!" Jack heared Mikage call after him as he exited the hospital that Izayoi had been admitted to. As restless as he was, staying there for another minute would most likely result in murder of Izayoi's parents, Mikage or the hyperactive brat, that happened to be his fellow signer Ruka's twin-brother.

It had been two days now, two days since he had witnessed that duel between his former friends, between Yusei and Kiryu. Two days since he had watched Yusei lose, had seen him being swallowed by the flames.

Had watched him die.

Some part of him was almost surprised about just how much that thought still hurt. Then again, despite their strained relationship, despite how much jack had tried to convince himself that he _did not care_ - not about Yusei, not about Crow or Rally, not about any of them – it didn't change the fact that once they had been as close as brothers. Nor did it change that a steadily growing part of Jack had started to wish to mend their friendship, thought almost longingly back to the old days when Yusei had greeted him with a smile, when he had been welcome no matter what.

A time that now would never return – no matter how quick tempered and proud he might be, all above of that Jack was still a realist. He had seen what had happened, how Yusei had lost the duel and consequently his life. But even though the loss hurt, he knew better than to let himself be numbed by it. Because, with Yusei gone, Izayoi in coma and the last of the currently known Signer being nothing more than a _kid_, he himself was the only one left to fight, to depend on in this war.

And he was not about to reject that responsibility.

_(Because somewhere, there was a clumsy, spectacled girl, who had turned his life around, who had started to make his heart beat faster, whom he just might have fallen in love with, who had fallen victim to the Earthbound Gods, waiting – depending on him – to be rescued. One that he had brought into this dangerous affair, who he was going to bring back at all costs.)_

Some part of him even considered hitting up Crow about it - as awkward as a meeting between them might be after almost three years of silence, even though not Signer, Crow was a strong, capable duelist and Jack would have trusted him with his life without a second thought. But as attractive as that plan was, right now he couldn't be sure if Crow was even alive. Not after the pictures Mikage had shown him this afternoon, pictures of Satellite covered in a strange, black fog, of the streets abandoned, whipped of any trace that there might have been any soul living in them.

No, Crow's state was more than uncertain, leaving Jack on his own, with only himself to rely on.

"Atlas-sama; where are you…"

Well perhaps not _just_ himself. Strictly objectively speaking, he still had Mikage, that cop who had assaulted him while under the spell of the Dark Signer and who hardly left Mikage's side these days, the twins, Izayoi (should she ever wake up) and Godwin in his corner.

But Mikage was worthless as a duelist and the cop wasn't much better, in Jack's estimation at least; the twins were kids and had grown up in the tops area – child genius or not, he was not about to trust either of them to be able to deal with a duel that even the one man that had defeated _him_ hadn't been able handle; Izayoi might have been unreliable even if she had been awake – she might have cared about getting revenge on the Dark Signer, having lost her home to them, but she wouldn't have defended the Satellite or the City, the people on stake and why should she – she had been ridiculed by them for most of her life. And Godwin… Godwin's motives were questionable at best. Not to mention that he had never seen the older man as much as touch a duel disk.

Which left him where he had started, with only himself. _(And some part of Jack honestly preferred it like that anyway.)_

"Atlas-sama! Wait… where are you going?" Mikage still called after him, not catching the hint and _leaving him_ _be_ like she should have. Finally he snapped and turned around, already tense due the events of the last few days and additionally highly annoyed by the way Mikage was trying to mother him (or whatever his former secretary _thought_ she was doing).

He straightened and narrowed his eyes on her. "What does it look like? I'm going for a walk."

Finally he reached the Wheel of Fortune, while he wouldn't take the bike, with the Dark Signer out and about, he still wanted his duel disk on him. One couldn't be prepared enough. Mikage watched him, concern plainly visible in her eyes. "Please, let me accompany–"

"I'm going for a walk." Jack repeated icily, while attaching his Duel-Disk to his left arm. "Alone."

Then as he was about to take another step and noticed that, despite his words, Mikage was still about to heft herself onto his heels, he turned around a last time, shooting her his coldest glare, one that would have left most thugs of Satellite shivering in fear. "Don't follow me."

That was enough to keep her in place, finally! – he really didn't need her around while he was clearing his head and readied himself to deal with this hassle on his own; not per choice perhaps, but by necessity.

He stepped out into the cold, drawing in the chilly night air– refreshingly so after all the time he had spent in that hospital – feeling himself relax ever so slightly. He still was right in front of the hospital, in the middle of the plaza that was kept lit by the lights from inside. But from not too far, he could see the lights of the never sleeping city's skyscrapers, the heart of the city, the place he was about to head to.

To him the streets themselves were a perhaps not so strangely familiar place; whether lightened or not – he had spent his childhood- and teenage-years there – and even though he still was not quite ready to admit it yet, the simplicity, the fact that they were only ruled by "Survival for the fittest" somewhat comforted him.

Because right now he absolutely wouldn't have minded being challenged by some half-backed City-street-duelist, who though he'd be able to best to former King. Anything to distract himself from this strange feeling in the pit of is stomach.

Jack should have watched what he wished for.

For somewhere well into Neo Domino City, in some side street he found his path blocked by some clothed figure that looked suspiciously similar to the ones he had seen in the purplish flames of Kiryu's geoglyph. But seconds after he had registered the figure, the other turned away, disappearing almost instantly into the shadows, leaving close to no doubt about his allegiance.

Jack narrowed his eyes; just what kind of game were those Dark Signer trying to play now! Surely, he thought, this was some sort of trap, intended to ensnare the former King. He snort; so they thought he would just sit back and play their games? Well, he would teach them better – Jack Atlas did not play by any rules but his own!

"Oi, stop right there!" he called, violet eyes blazing angrily as he followed the unknown figure. But of course the other didn't stop – not that Jack had really expected him to. Instead he led the chase into the poorer parts of the City to some sort of garage where Jack lost sight of him.

But even though he wasn't able to _see_ his adversary; he didn't need to in order to know that he was there – he could feel the cool sting of somebody's eyes on him, watching is every move.

"Come out already!" he demanded with an angry snort; he was so tired of being toyed with. If the Dark Signer thought they would be able to get rid of him with some puppet then they were even more pathetic than he had thought them before. Kiryu should know him better than that; should know that Jack Atlas was not easily disposed of and that this would only serve to make him more determined to defeat the Dark Signer by himself (there was no doubt that he could take on them; he wouldn't be unprepared like Yusei had been).

This time the dark one listened to his demand, finally appearing before him, his step echoing loudly through the garage.

"Jack." The figure greeted with dreadfully familiar voice _(except that Jack couldn't quite believe what he was hearing – couldn't and wouldn't – and didn't want to consider just who this man was, just who he sounded like. It was all fake he told himself. A trick to keep him off-balance, nothing more.)_.

"I have come to take your light."

"My 'light'?" he snort again, sounding far more confident and self-assured than he truly felt. "What would you want with that?"

His adversary stayed silent and thrust out his forearm instead, activating his Duel disc.

"Not the talkative type?" Jack asked mockingly. "Fine with me. I shall drag the answers to my questions out of you as we duel."

The other continued his silence, merely standing his ground as Jack took up his challenge – for the first time in long not just because his pride demanded him to. No, this would be his first strike against the darkness, the first step to avenge the comrades that had already fallen in his war, to make sure that they had not died in vain.

This was his first step on the path of the _true_ Jack Atlas.

_(A narrow path between light and darkness, destined to fail from the start.)_

_

* * *

_

Despite the pride, despite the anger, despite his proneness to act rashly when provoked – Jack was actually a very calculating person - in the Satellite he had learned quickly just how to exploit the faults and weaknesses of his opponents, a very useful trait in both, the streets of Satellite and the shining stadium of Neo Domino City. He had become so good at it that he could even pull Yusei's strings at times, who by all means should know his strategies like the back of his hand, who – being from the Satellite himself – should be thick skinned enough to ignore his jabs.

But all snarking, all cunning had been useless in face of an opponent that he just _could not_ read. Though that alone would not have been that much of a problem, if his opponent hadn't been able to read and unnerve him so perfectly in return. That had been Jack's greatest miscalculation.

He had been unprepared in the face of his opponents strength, had understated him despite the clear familiarity of his voice.

He had not expected that dragon that looked so very much like the one he had once stolen to gain what he had thought freedom, that looked so much like the shining hope of Satellite, like "Stardust Dragon" despite sporting the opposite colour scheme. "Starvoid" as the far too familiar voice called it, had blasted his life points away, had reduced him to zero. To nothingness. Had doomed him to death.

And even though he had expected it by then, had deep down acknowledged the most likely identity of his hooded enemy, he had still hoped against hope – hope that was murdered the instant he felt his fallen form turned and starred up into Yusei's face – composed and void of emotion, safe for the tiny speck of lingering regret in his eyes.

"It had to be done." Jack heard him whisper as the world grew dark around him and the shadows started to claim him and that very instant he felt rage rise inside him. Anger like he had never felt it before.

He was angry at Yusei for giving in, for being such a goddamn hypocrite. For always preaching about friendship and _bonds_ and then abandoning all his pretty words in the moment he could have made them count for something.

He was angry at Crow, who by all accounts should be knowing what was going on – he too had witnessed Yusei's duel after all – for not seeking him out the second Yusei had fallen, for not allying with him when that should have been the most sensible move to make _(even if there had been no time after the fuel, even if both of them had been too shocked by the events to start thinking in terms of alliances, even if Crow had no way into the City; not with the pipeline up and running for another half a month – but Jack frankly didn't care about any of that. Crow should have come to _him_!)_

He was angry at Kiryu and whatever goddamn plan he had hatched, angry that apparently their old leader had never forgotten just how to pull the strings of his teammates.

He was angry at himself, for forgetting how cunning Kiryu, how gullible Yusei, how goddamn rash Crow could be. For letting himself get comfortable and dulled with the pleasures of life in the City, for losing the razor-sharp edge he had worked so hard to gain and keep in the Satellite – Yusei would have never defeated him otherwise, either time.

But… behind all that anger, all his rage, for perhaps the first time since the night of Kiryu's arrest, Jack Atlas truly felt what it was like to fear. Because in the moment the world around him was rapidly swallowed by darkness and disappeared into bleak nothingness, Jack realised the ultimate truth of his state: He was _dying_.

And promptly he felt himself denying the fact. He couldn't die, couldn't allow himself to die – not when he to set Yusei (and perhaps Kiryu) straight and kick Crow's ass for being everywhere but where Jack needed him to be; not when _Carly_ was somewhere waiting for him to get her out of the mess he had dragged her into.

So when he reached out for that last faint, quickly fading spot of light in his vision, thinking desperately how this just couldn't be the end yet, and when he felt _something_ reach back, he grabbed after it without a second thought.

Because all he could really concentrate on was his anger, was his fear for the men he had once thought of as brothers and the spectacled girl he didn't quite know what he was feeling for yet. And when the last thing Jack was aware of before he lost his consciousness to the dark was alarmingly foreign glee, he couldn't really bring himself to care at all.

He didn't notice the pair of tattered glasses, slipping out of his Riding suit as he fell, shattering beyond repair when they hit the ground.

* * *

Jack awakened to absolute silence.

To nothing but darkness and silence – he couldn't even hear his own breath – and the stray observation of 'Oh, I'm still alive'.

And then the memory of his last hours crashed into him, shocking Jack into sitting up with a snap and drawing him the first breath since the moments after his duel against Yusei. A breath that promptly transformed into a hacking cough.

He-

What had-

Jack shook his head sharply – _'Stop panicking, idiot!'_ - and then took a closer look at his surroundings, trying not to wonder just why he could see so well when there was not even as much as moon light illuminating the room.

The room itself was generous in size, but spare on furniture – nothing but a few paintings and the king-sized bed he was sitting on. The windows were covered by heavy velvet curtains, he noted and then he turned his head further and noticed the _mirror_ hanging on that wall…

…

This had to be a lie, he thought, pointedly ignoring the sudden burn of his birthmark and the _colour_ it had adapted. The mirror _had_ to be a lie, a trick. But how could it be (how could he doubt now that he knew what had happened to Yusei…)? Had he really become-

"Finally awake, are you?"

Jack's head snapped back up and around and all despair, all panic transformed instantly into ice cold _fury_ at the sight of Kiryu's insufferable smirk. His former leader was leaning against the door stock, arms locked over is chest, looking faintly amused when Jack fixated him with a glare.

"What have you done to me?" Jack snarled with gritted teeth, as he rose from the bed, trying not to think about his new colour stripped cloths that were uncomfortably similar to Kiryu's. The other just crooked his head slightly, looking as overly confident as always – but what really drove Jack up the wall was the mocking laughter in his eyes.

"What, no 'Hello, how have you been?' or 'Ah it's good to see you.'? Is that a way to greet an old Ifriend/I, Jack? Didn't Martha teach you any _manners_?"

"Cut the crap!" Jack felt murderous as he drew up to full height in front of Kiryu, satisfied that by now he had gained several centimetre on his former leader, and demanded. "Answer the question."

Kiryu sighed and shook his head in mock resignation – apparently he didn't feel the slightest intimidated by Jack.

"Shouldn't you know better than this?" he asked as he sidestepped Jack and started to circle around him. "I didn't do anything more to you than I did to Yusei – I showed you the _path_. And _both_ of you walked it down just fine on your own."

Jack narrowed his eyes as Kiryu came closer, ignoring all boundaries of personal space as he leaned forward, whispering: "You _chose_ this, Jack."

He snort in reply, not believing Kiryu for a second (no matter how terrible true the words rang in his ears). "You are lying." He said flatly.

Kiryu stepped back again, chuckling quietly. "We both know that you don't really believe that."

Then he turned around to leave, but stopped by the door as if in afterthought.

"By the way…" he turned back around with a smirk so sharp, so _knowing_ that it sent shivers down Jack's spine. "Carly-chan says _'Hi.'_"

His eyes widened as those news, as the implications sank in, then with a jump he was past Kiryu and running down the hallway, tearing down one door after the other, haunted by his former leader's bellowing laughter and one last mocking advice. "Try the fourth door on the left!"

Jack ignored the laughter, but not the suggestion – Kiryu (probably) wouldn't gain much from lying to him and how could he even know Carly's name much less about her connection to him, if not-

It seemed to take impossibly long to reach the room Kiryu had pointed him to, but when he _finally_ did, he opened it with one firm push, without hesitation, prepared to beat the hell out of Kiryu should he have deceived him – and stopped dead when a bewildered pair of grey eyes met his.

Carly, clothed in dark robes similar to Kiryu's and his own current attire, was sitting on the bed that took up most of the room, very much like in the room he had woken up in, duel monsters laid out before her like a tarot reading.

A second later he heard a high-pitched squeal ("Jyaaaaaack!") and felt something (or rather someone) colliding with his chest and when Jack looked down, he saw Carly trying to burrow herself into him, and almost squeezing him to death in process. Then she looked up to him, smiling and looking so goddamn normal apart from the cloths and the small, blood red marker beneath the corner of her left eye that Jack couldn't help but wonder if she wasn't some sort of trick or hallucination sent to put him off-guard (even if her form pressed against his felt so good, so true, so _right_ that it couldn't possibly be anything but reality).

"You are up!" she stated happily.

"As if I didn't notice." He snort, one eyebrow lifted more in amusement than in annoyance – he was too relieved to see her more or less alive and sane. Carly ignored his sarcasm and disengaged from the hug, only to grab him by the arm and pull him gently towards her bed. "I was _so worried_ about you when Yusei-san brought you in, even though Kiryu-san _said_ you'd be alright, but I couldn't _help_ it and tried asking the cards and-"

"Carly!" he cut her rambling off, pulling abruptly out of her grip, regarding her with a calm but commanding look. "What the hell happened to you?"

For a moment _(a moment of everlasting silence torturing him, when there was nothing but that foreign snicker from that far back of his head)_ Carly said nothing; she just sat down on her bad, her eyes cast to the ground. Then she looked back up again, her face unnaturally blank of emotion, her sclera deep black. "I infiltrated the Arcadia Movement and was caught and killed by their leader, Divine.

"He has already paid for his crimes, beloved." She added when she noticed the shock, the fury, the guilt building up in him.

"Why…?" he whispered a minute later, a loaded question and he loathed and dreaded the answer. Carly's expression softened as she took his hand into her own. "I wanted to get just a little closer to you."

This was the answer he had feared; he had tried to protect her the only way he knew to work, by pushing her away… and in doing so he had killed her; killed her and driven her into the arms of the _enemy_ (though… he couldn't be truly sure of who the enemy was, could he?).

Noticing his distress, Carly drew him to her side on the bed, holding – petting – his hands in her lap.

"I wanted to get closer to you." She repeated. "I wanted to _be_ closer to you."

He shook his head, guilt the anger he felt with himself visible on his face. "I… I assumed you had been sacrificed to one of the Earthbound Gods… I thought, if I defeated the Dark Signer…"

He shook under her caress, when she brought one hand to his cheek, gently making him face her. "It's alright now beloved. I wanted to be close to you… and now I am. Now we can be _together_."

He straightened immediately at her words, suddenly starring at her as if she had gone mad (and perhaps she had after all).

"What do you mean? What are you _talking_ about?" he demanded, pushing confusion and tiny bits of fear away from his thoughts. Carly smiled at him in understanding; too understanding, and then she let go of his hands and pulled out her deck.

"Destiny, Jack. Yours. Mine. _Ours!_" she said as she fanned out her deck, pulling out a card without giving it as much as a glance and then held it out for him. It was a trap.

'_Prophecy of the Future King.'_

"This is the destiny my cards have foretold for you." She whispered. "You will help lead this world into a new era, beloved. You will reign it with me by your side. You will become the _Dark King_."

"'Dark King'?" he repeated after her, still struck, still not understanding how this woman could be the same sweet, clumsy Carly who had told him to create his _own_ destiny.

"I…" he started.

_'I'm not the King anymore!'_ he wanted to say, but something dark hissed defiantly in the back of his mind and the words died before they could pass his lips.

"I..." he tried again, but was stopped this time when she pushed herself forward, now almost sitting in his lap, her lips impossible close and, god how was he supposed to deal with this all, he thought as he felt himself lean in, almost...

"Hey, hey Jack, Kiryu told me- holy _shi-_"

Jack snapped back up again, head instantly turning to the source of interruption and was surprised to find Crow standing in the middle of the open door, mouth wide open in shock, though he could already see it start to twitch up into a familiar, insufferable, teasing smirk that was growing wider and wider with every second.

"Well, well I'll be damned..." the red-head started "Jack's _really_ got a _girlfriend_. I admit I didn't buy the story, but looks like I was wrong after all..."

Then he began to snicker - like a kid half his age, honestly - but Jack didn't much care about that actually, all he could do was stare at Crow's appearance, the same robes as him and Yusei, the makers on his face all in ugly, dark red instead of yellow... Crow too had been...

Then the sound of his old (former?) friend's laughter snapped him out of his stupor and he felt anger rise - anger was good he thought; anger was steady and familiar _(dark and beautiful, the voice in the far back of his mind whispered)_ and he found himself murmuring "Excuse me." to a slightly flustered Carly before grabbing Crow by his robes and dragging that still snickering idiot back into the hallway, slamming the door firmly shut behind himself.

"What-" he snarled as he pushed Crow against the wall. "-do you want?"

"Oh relax!" the red-head replied, still chuckling. "Kiryu told me to fetch you; said we got some planning to do. You know, in order to dominate the City."

That made Jack stop in his stop in his tracks, eyes widening as he registered the meaning of Crow's far too familiar words.

"What did you say just now?" he asked, almost feeling his voice crack - to hear these particular words from _Crow_ of all people...

"Did you go deaf on that high throne in the City, Jack? I said we gotta plan so we can dominate-"

But Jack just slammed him against the wall again, hoping that would help Crow to come to his senses again - for all his recklessness, out of the four of them Crow had always known the best when to draw the line, especially when it came to Kiryu.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." he hissed angrily at Crow "What the hell has gotten into you? You _remember_ how this ended the last time, right?"

"Yeah. So?" Crow shrugged under his grip; but Jack couldn't help but notice the second of hesitation before that, the flash of doubt in grey eyes and the purple gleam that washed it away. There was still hope for Crow after all, he realized.

"What happened to you?" he asked more calmly now; he needed to know, if he wanted any chance of getting Crow back as an ally in this insanity that seemed to have gripped anyone aside of him.

Crow shrugged again, looking more uncomfortable this time, not quite looking at Jack as he started speaking. "I went to the B.A.D. a few days ago. Thought with Yusei gone, I should do my best to fill in and get a piece of the Dark Signer. "

Jack snort softly - now that was typical for Crow, running ahead without thinking - but he understood. Had he been in Satellite, he would have done the same. Probably. "And then?"

"Ran into this creepy Security clown-guy and dueled him."

Jeager, huh? Now what had that guy been doing in the Satellite? Did that mean that Godwin was up to something?

Crow snort, ignorant of Jack's musings. "Tried the typical establishment tricks with some weird lock deck. Though I guess it was a little bit more creative as your usual; he almost got me with it."

Jack's lips twitched into an almost smile. "So you won, huh?"

Crow shook his head. "We were interrupted. Damn fog."

At that Jack's eyes widened in recognition; Mikage had shown him what footage Security had posed on that disaster after all. So Crow had become a victim of that after all.

"I woke up like this..." Crow continued "... and then Kiryu appeared. He brought me here when I asked to see Yusei."

Jack nodded; to Crow and to himself. The pieces were starting to fall together now, he was starting to see how Kiryu's scheme was working. The more he knew of it, the better he could keep himself from getting entangled, the better he could help Crow and Yusei to get out again.

"Take me to Kiryu." he demanded as he let go of Crow, straightening and silently swearing to himself to get his friend back and to fight this insanity that had gripped Yusei, Kiryu, Crow and Carly all alike.

They had all gone mad and none of them seemed to see it. Kiryu was probably too far gone already; but Crow and Carly and perhaps even Yusei... if Jack held out long enough, separate them from Kiryu, then he perhaps he could save them. Then, together they would be able to fight _it_; even if Jack couldn't quite say for sure yet what _'it'_ was _('oh, but you know...' the voice inside him whispered faintly. 'Or at least you would if you just looked deep enough inside yourself...')_.

His hands fisting with calculating determination, Jack followed Crow down the hallway. Even if it was just him, even if they were all drowning in this madness, he'd just pull them up again. Jack Atlas would not succumb to anyone or anything. Never again.

_('That's what you think now...')_

**- To be Continued -**

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Well... pretty please, review?


	5. Part 5: Team Satisfaction

**Author's Note:** It took me a while to post this - mostly because I was unsure what the reader reaction would be. When I started to started to outline part two - four I had a clear idea what I wanted to do in this story. My intention was to turn the whole of Team Satisfaction into Dark Signer within the series' setting. This part was vaguely on my mind, and later written in a flash of inspiration after finding the whole Star Wars quote I've used in the beginning of each chapter. I've often wondered whether to rewrite it or not, but in the end... I wouldn't know how else to write it.

Please, enjoy?

**Warnings:** AU, Dark!fic, sorta Characterdeath all around |D (and what do you call when the dead guys hit on each other anyway?)

**Summary:** Multichap – And for a second a part of Kiryu despaired and wished things could have gone different. He couldn't let go of his bonds, not when there was still one Last Duel to be fought.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Italic text in the beginning isn't mine either, it still belongs to Matthew Stover and I'm only borrowing.

**- The darkest Shadow -**

**- Part 05: Team Satisfaction -**

_The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins._

_It always wins because it is everywhere._

_It is in the wood that burns in your hearth, and in the kettle on the fire; it is under your chair and under your table and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the mid-day sun and the dark is with you, attached to the soles of your feet._

_The brightest light casts the darkest shadow._

The light is strong, always – it had to be to balance the everlasting dark - and it had chosen it's defenders well. But even its very chosen, touched and filled by the light, can only resist the dark for so long.

Can only cling to the lighten threads for a certain time, when surrounded by dark temptation, when bound to it by bonds far older and tighter than the ones they had to the light. The light had chosen its defenders well, but the dark had been by far more cunning. Had known just how to select its one chosen that could pull the light's spear and sword into its clutches.

Had known just how to use the bonds between them, had known how twist them and make the light's weapons its own. Making the lights former weapons fight the very thing they had defended before from their own will.

After all, the pathway to hell is plastered with good intentions.

Yusei had been the first to give in, to be drawn in by the promise of restoring bonds and by his own guilt that had been ever present in his heart since the day, since Ithat/I one night when he had failed to protect Kiryu, letting him be taken away, letting him become the very thread that pulled them all into the Darkness.

Crow had followed, had too been pulled in by that very bond he had tried to rescue. Had been seduced and poisoned ever so slowly, until he hadn't been able to differ between his own desires and that of the dark. And then when Kiryu had offered him his hand a second time, had promised to show him a future of their liking, it hadn't seemed such a bad idea to take it anymore. To be reunited with everyone else again, never to be alone again. A future were his kids wouldn't ever have to starve again. What else could he want?

Jack had been the last, had fallen even though he had sworn to stay strong and resist, to pull not only his brothers but also the only woman he had ever claimed to love out of the shadows. Had fallen, because no matter how strong a man's heart is, it is so very easily manipulated when the ones closest to it are at stake. Because, no matter how strong a man's heart is, deep down he will always crave the company of the ones that know him the best.

And Kiryu, who had observed all that change in his now again comrades, who had been the very trigger for that change to begin, couldn't help but smile in delight. They had reunited, just like he had foreseen it.

Team Satisfaction had been retrieved.

And it was now that they stood over the city, waiting for the night to fall so that they could bring despair and death over the city, that he understood. He had never sought for this to end. Unlike what he had thought, this wasn't Team Satisfaction's Last Duel.

This would be their first. The beginning of everything.

And as he realized that, he couldn't help throwing back his head and laugh, glancing at the rest of the team who were waiting with him to explain with raised eyebrows and almost bemused expressions. But Kiryu just shook his head and smirked.

"How about we make ourselves satisfied?"

_- The End? -_

Well, not quite the end yet - there is still an epilogue to go with this. remember? However 'to be continued' would be wrong too - this piece is the last one set in this Universe after all. What does that mean for the epilogue? Why don't you find out for yourself? ;)

I've been asked a few times about Aki's fate in this AU and I admit I'm not quite sure about that myself yet either, mostly because she was never meant to be truly part of this story, since it's primary focus was from the start Team Satisfaction and the dynamic between the different members. However I do have vague plans to write a One Shot or two about her set in this verse and if I do they are most likely to be published as part of my YuAki-collection "Bonded by Crimson". I hope that is perhaps something to look forward to?

Please, perhaps review.


	6. Epilogue

**Author's Note:** So... here we are; this is the Epilogue. It wasn't part of the original outline - it was also inspired by my Star Wars quote; mostly because the piece used in this part was the last one left and I thought, it was too beautiful not to be used in this story.

Anyway... this actually marks my first finished, multichapter work - and I'm kinda really proud of this. But I also need to say thank you a lot. THANK YOU to all the talented writers in this fandom that inspired this work. Just... Thank you. I had lots of fun writing this and now that it's finished I'm kind of sad that I won't be anymore. ...On the other hand, there are many more stories and chapters I have yet to type out, right? |D

Please, please enjoy.

**Warnings:** AU, Dark!fic (or considering this ending, I don't actually think it is anymore |D)

**Summary:** Multichap – And for a second a part of Kiryu despaired and wished things could have gone different. He couldn't let go of his bonds, not when there was still one Last Duel to be fought.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Italic text in the beginning isn't mine either, it belongs to Matthew Stover and I'm only borrowing.

**- The darkest Shadow -**

**- Epilogue -**

_The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back._

_Love is more than a candle._

_Love can ignite the stars._

There was a part of Kiryu, who has seen this vision over and over again.

Everytime in the last few years, when he had felt himself doubt and weaken, from the point on when he had realised, despite his will and thirst for revenge, he couldn't truly hate his former team mates, that their bonds were far too tight for him to be able to bear killing them coldheartedly, the voice of his god had whispered, had shown him this image. The details of what happened were fuzzy, but the result was always the same:

All four of them reunited under the Darkness. All four of them together for eternity.

And every time, the image soothed him and then disappeared into the furthest corner of his consciousness to leave him in his hate and anger and darkness; he would need those feelings instead of doubt and affection, if he were to make the vision come true. That is what he held on, he couldn't play Team Satisfaction's Last Duel without the others, didn't want to play it without the others – even if he had to sell all their souls to the devil to archive that. _(He didn't want to be alone anymore…)_

And then when the moment arrived - his chance to make his vision true - everything came different.

Because Kiryu didn't defeat Yusei.

Just the second before Ccpac Apu could reach him, could pull his soul over into the dark, the others D-Wheel broke, saving him from the fate that Kiryu had foreseen. And as he stood over his fallen comrade, for the shortest moment he felt torn. Technically he had defeated the Signer, even if his life point counter had never fallen to zero. He could take him, should do so just like in his vision…

Yet he hesitated and then the moment of chance was gone. It didn't matter, Kiryu decided as he laughed at the fallen duelist, wishing him to live through the hell of fear, to prepare himself for what the darkness still held in store for him.

It didn't matter, for soon enough there would be another chance to defeat him _(another chance for Team Satisfaction to reunite)_

And until then he could wait.

_(Could wait and hope in the deepest corner of his heart that it would be him who'd be defeated. So that this deep darkness he was caught in would never touch anyone he held dear…)_

_- FIN -_

Please review.


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